Around five percent of people who have had Covid-19 develop long-lasting problems with their sense of smell or taste, a large study said Thursday, potentially contributing to the burden of long Covid.
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One of the most common symptoms of COVID-19 is anosmia or the loss of smell. While it is known that patients suffer from both short-term and long-term anosmia, the mechanism used by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus to cause the condition has remained a mystery. Now, a new study has discovered the mechanism behind this unique symptom of the unpredictable viral infection.
The study is a collaboration between multiple French institutions. It discovered that the virus infects the sensory neurons and causes persistent inflammation of the epithelial cells within the nose and the olfactory nervous system (nerves within the nasal cavity).